


Could Have Been Me

by orphan_account



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alya Césaire Bashing, Alya Salt, Bullying, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, F/F, F/M, Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Marinette living becuase of spite, Protective Chloé Bourgeois, She thinks about doing it, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, and also fuck lila, but then decides against it, class salt, ish?, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:22:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25562017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Marinette is tired of the way she's being treated at school and almost does something that she would regret.But a chance song at the right time and Marinette knows that she needs to live, if only so she can show the world that Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Ladybug and Guardian, Designer to the stars and all around badass was not to be trifled with.Now in Gotham, She'll have to juggle school, Chloe and also bat vigilantes!?
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne
Comments: 17
Kudos: 294





	1. Don't wanna live as an untold story

**Author's Note:**

> Marinette and Chloe are 16, Damian is 17 but in the same grade as he turned 17 before them.

As Marinette ran out of the school, she wondered how it had gotten to this point. Maybe it was when Lila arrived at the school with lies on her tongue and a smile that was anything but sweet. Maybe it was when all of her friends started to believe the liar instead of the girl that they had grown up with. Or maybe it was when she realized that Lila had gotten what she wanted. Marinette was alone. 

Arriving home, Marinette ran up the staircase, not even pausing to say hi to her parents. She climbed up the ladder to her room and collapsed on the floor, crying her heart out. Today had been the breaking point. Chloe was being transferred to a school in America to be with her mom, Luka was going on tour with Jagged and Kagami had flown back to Japan that morning, after her mom broke off the engagement with Adrien. She was alone, all of her friends scattered across the world, and all of the people that hated her surrounding her. 

Tikki had flown out of Marinette's bag as soon as they arrived in the room, not sure what to do to help her chosen. At least they wouldn’t have to worry about Hawkmoth, having captured him the month previously. It had shocked all of Paris to find out that the villain that had been terrorizing them for the past 3 years was none other than Gabriel Agreste. Adrien had left Paris to go live with his aunt and cousin, leaving behind the black cat miraculous, revealing that he had been Chat Noir and Ladybug’s partner in the process. 

As Marinette sobbed, she felt this cold settle over her. She just felt numb. Life had been getting worse and worse, and suddenly it had felt like Marinette had gone from treading water to drowning with no notice as to when things had become too much. She took off her earrings, not noticing the look that Tikki had given her before being absorbed back into the miraculous. Setting the box on her desk, she started to write out a letter. 

Marinette didn’t see an out, not one that wasn’t permanent. The loneliness, the constant accusations of acts that Marinette had never done, the physical bullying that had gone from simple tripping in the hallway to being pushed down stairs was all too much for the bluenette and she was just so.. Tired. She just wanted things to end. She finished the letter before going on to her balcony. She wanted to watch the sunset one last time, before she left the world. 

While she watched the sunset, a street performer had started to sing. First it was songs that were for tourists, but as the streets emptied and the sun slowly disappeared, they skipped around, not settling on one particular genre. Finally they began to sing a song that caught Marinette’s attention. 

“ Don't wanna live as an untold story  
Rather go out in a blaze of glory   
I can't hear you, I don't fear you  
I'll live now 'cause the bad die last  
Dodging bullets with your broken past  
I can't hear you, I don't fear you now  
Wrapped in your regret  
What a waste of blood and sweat  
Oh oh oh  
I wanna taste love and pain  
Wanna feel pride and shame  
I don't wanna take my time  
Don't wanna waste one line  
I wanna live better days  
Never look back and say  
Could have been me  
It could have been me” 

As Marinette continued to listen to the song, she thought about her life. She was so young, just 16. Was she really prepared to throw everything away for this? Was she ready to give up? Did she really want to give up all of her dreams?   
No. She didn’t.  
Marinette took a step back from the edge, thoughts racing through her brain. She couldn’t continue as she had been, taking their abuse. She needed a change, but what kind she wasn’t sure. She needed to leave Paris, that was for sure. But where to go? She could ask Kagami if she would be willing to house Marinette, but her mother wouldn’t be up for reminder of Paris, especially so soon. Uncle Jagged was an option as she had designed his entire touring wardrobe, and he had been requesting for years for Marinette to go on tour with him. But she needed something stable. 

Chloe! She could transfer to the same school as Chloe, and there wouldn’t be any backlash from either set of parents as the girls were thick as thieves before Chloe had moved away to finish out their final two years in Gotham. Aubrey would finally have Marinette interning underneath her and Marinette’s own parents would be contempt in knowing that their daughter was with a friend and staying with family friends. 

As she watched the stars come out, Marinette knew that everything would work out just fine.


	2. Rather go out in a blaze of glory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is posted on my tumblr as well, which is https://ghostlyvictorianwriter.tumblr.com/ if any of you were wondering.

Marinette watched as the ground got farther and farther away as her plane took off. She was finally leaving. It had taken some effort from both her and Chloe to make this happen, but now that she was leaving Paris, she wasn’t sure what to feel.   
Relief that she was leaving the environment that had caused so many negative emotions in her,   
Nervousness at the thought of going to a new school, especially in a different country.   
Anxiety over leaving the same city that had been her life for the past 16 years. 

But most of all, she felt excitement. The thought that she was getting to start over with people who didn’t know her, and make new friends, and finally live her life. 

She fiddled with a few commissions she had taken before leaving Paris on the plane ride, with naps spaced out to make jet lag a little easier on her. A dress for Penny, a new suit for Jagged and a few dress shirts for a businessman in Gotham. She was excited over the prospect of getting to do fittings in person, and had been communicating with them about when the best time to do said fittings would be. They had agreed on her coming over two days after her arrival, and Marinette was excited to work with Mr. Wayne. She had heard from Jagged that he was a big fan of her work, and made sure that it was okay that he pass along her details for a commission. 

As she looked out the window, watching the ground rise up to meet them as they landed in Gotham, she thought to herself 

“How beautiful.”

Damian was not having a good day. He was awoken by banging and slamming doors as Todd chased Grayson around the large house for stealing… something. Damian hadn’t bothered to learn what the two men were fighting over, only that it had woken him up, and for that they must die. 

He corrected his thinking, knowing that Bruce wouldn’t be okay with Damian killing or even lightly maiming his two eldest sons. Damian had walked into the kitchen expecting to be able to make his morning tea without any problems, until he saw that Drake was slouched over the island, muttering something about equations and a possible problem. Drake had stood straight up after hearing Damian walk in, and had just smiled and said good morning before leaving with the largest cup of coffee that Damian had seen to date. Apparently Alfred hadn’t hidden all of his mugs. 

The entire incident had caused Damian to be lost in thought for a good 10 minutes, trying to figure out if Drake had genuinely meant that or was planning something. Damian wasn’t quite sure yet. Those lost 10 minutes however meant that Damian could not savor his morning cup of tea, and instead had to take a bagel and ask Alfred to prepare his tea to go so that he could get dressed for school. He was able to get out the door and to his car without anyone asking him how his morning was going, which was a victory for him. He had been able to get a good enough park space, no one willing to risk the wrath of the Ice Prince of Gotham Academy if he had been forced to park too far from the door. 

Then, his ridiculous classmates had been chattering all day about a new student. Damian made a mental note to look into their background as he refused to have some imbecile try to acquaint themselves with him. He had tried to pay attention to what his teacher was saying, but quickly determined that it was both unnecessary (he had already learned this in his own time) and impossible (his classmates were extremely loud with their whispering and gossiping). Damian allowed himself to work on a sketch of batcow instead, knowing that not even the teacher would dare to disturb him. 

Sadly the distractions continued into the night, with his brothers discussing the student from France that would be staying with them for a time, while her guardians in America would be arranging somewhere for her to stay. All he heard throughout patrol was their questions and comments about this new person in their life, with no one seeming to care about the security breach that was this new person in their life. 

Safe to say, when Damian was forced to go with his family to the airport to pick up said student, he was in a horrid mood and it seemed that nothing would be able to pull him from it. They watched as people disembarked from the plane, his brothers looking for someone in particular. Damian wasn’t paying much attention until he saw a shock of dark blue hair. He looked up from his phone and took in the image of the girl in front of him.

His first thought was “How Beautiful”


End file.
